A Fatal Accident Inquiry into the death of 14 year old army cadet Kaylee McIntosh has found that a series of failures to correctly plan a training exercise led to her death.

McIntosh was amongst a party who took to Loch Carnan, South Uist in a light boat under force 8 gale conditions. The boat was overwhelmed and capsized.

"A feature of this inquiry was that it disclosed a number of precautions which, had they been taken, might have avoided the accident or, the capsize having occurred, prevented the loss of Kaylee's life," Sheriff MacFadyen said.

"Tragically, Kaylee's life might not have been lost had some of the precautions been taken singly, for example the headcount on the water or the issuing of the correct size of lifejacket. Given that unusual feature, I have thought it appropriate simply to identify firstly the failures in respect of which reasonable precautions could have been taken and secondly the factors which, in my view, amounted to a failure in systems of working which contributed to the accident or Kaylee's death.

"Had this particular sea-borne activity been properly planned and executed, then there would have been nothing to prevent it, or something like it forming an exciting and adventurous activity for the young people attending the 2007 ACF summer camp. The responsibility on the organisers and instructors of a camp such as this is a heavy one, but no heavier than that of a responsible parent in whose shoes they stand for the duration of the camp. Inevitably a determination such as this deals with the circumstances leading to a death with the benefit of hindsight. However, it was reasonable for the young people and their parents to expect that the camp organisers would have safety of the cadets at the forefront of their minds at all times. The evidence disclosed that that expectation was not met."

The full report can be read here.